An inquest into the death of Waterford footballer Roy Butler has heard there is ‘insufficient evidence’ to link the vaccine to his fatal brain bleed.

Butler received a Covid vaccine in 2021 before dying five days later from the tragic affliction.


But the firm that developed the one-shot Janssen vaccine, Johnson & Johnson, has insisted there was insufficient evidence to link the two.

And the European Medicines Agency (EMA) agree with the findings, to leave the Butler family devastated and still looking for answers.

Waterford star Roy Butler

Roy Butler tragically lost his life in August 2021

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The inquest also heard how two women in the United States also died in similar circumstances to Butler, who was just 23 at the time of his death.

Johnson & Johnson also said that they did not have a figure for the amount of people that had died within 28 days of taking the jab.

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Butler had taken the vaccine as he wanted to travel to Dubai with his friends on holiday, with international travel still banned without proof of having taken the jab.

The youngster admitted he felt ‘shook’ in the aftermath of taking the jab and felt unwell, though he did not seek medical help.

But four days after receiving the one-shot Janssen-Johnson & Johnson, the Waterford star became unresponsive before dying the following day.

Two days before, he text friends: “I’m not dying, I’m just not well.”

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Despite heroic efforts from doctors in Waterford and Cork, a bleed on the brain led to a 8.1cm haematoma, causing fatal brain injuries.

The inquest discovered that 60 people around the world, including Butler, had received the same vaccine before suffering from intercranial brain bleeds.

Johnson & Johnson launched their own investigation after learning of Butler’s death in 2022.

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Roy Butler

Roy Butler played for Waterford before his death

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Over 400 reports were looked into to but their own report, which was sent to the EMA, discovered that was “insufficient evidence to establish a causal link between the spontaneous bleeds and the vaccine.”

Butler’s mother Angela told the court: “Roy was a perfectly healthy young boy before the vaccine.

Vaccines

Covid jabs were rolled out in 2021

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“He was perfect, he got this injection, then he wasn’t perfect.

“He did not want to get it. But he wanted to go to Dubai with friends and needed to prove that he had been vaccinated to travel there at that time.”